With accusations of a delayed response to Appalachian flood victims, obstruction, wokeness and misuse of funding, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials appear to have their hands full trying to salvage their agency’s reputation from growing criticism.

FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that criticising her agency is “dangerous” and makes her employees uncomfortable.

Despite obstructing relief efforts, @FEMA’s Criswell says criticizing her agency is “dangerous”:

“It has a tremendous impact on the comfort level of our own employees … When you have this dangerous rhetoric like you’re hearing, it creates fear in our own employees” pic.twitter.com/ProJObu7fc

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 6, 2024

Should the comfort level of FEMA employees take priority over the life and death needs of disaster victims?

Much of the criticism being leveled at FEMA officials stems from their perceived slowness to respond to communities in western North Carolina and Tennessee which were destroyed by massive flooding in late September.

Author and TV personality Dr. Phil McGraw has posted numerous videos from the affected areas where he has been helping with relief efforts. McGraw specifically praised the efforts of private charitable groups and individuals who quickly mobilized before any government help arrived, calling the response, “America at its best.”

FEMA is also taking heat for its clear focus on DEI as a foundation of the agency’s mission.

Fox News host Jesse Watters took FEMA to task for being unprepared and placing too much focus on hurt feelings, including making sexual identity a key factor in how relief efforts should be structured.

With another catastrophic hurricane barreling down on America, our federal government is completely unprepared. @SecMayorkas, who oversees @FEMA, is shopping for designer clothes, while FEMA faces a massive staffing shortage. FEMA’s response hasn’t been great, but you can’t… pic.twitter.com/qQq0QwAb3r

— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) October 8, 2024

The Biden administration is also being accused of using FEMA funds to facilitate the accommodation of illegal migrants, a claim that was sharply denied by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre.

However, Pierre’s answer appeared to conflate relief funds with other FEMA funds that were, in fact, used to provide housing and other needs for illegal migrants. In other words, she didn’t deny that FEMA funds were being spent on illegals, only that relief funds were not being spent that way.

When a federal agency finds itself spending more time trying to rescue its reputation and avoid hurt feelings than it does actively providing needed help for victims in harm’s way, it may have outlived its usefulness.

There have been rumors and misinformation going around about the #Helene response. These claims are not true.

We are committed to giving you accurate information and the help you need.

For more information, visit https://t.co/IJT1ufSN2O pic.twitter.com/sTVg2smgPi

— FEMA (@fema) October 8, 2024